A snack of Chocolate Almond Butter? Justin’s makes it super easy to do so.

Justin Gold was a vegetarian with an athletic lifestyle when he started whipping up his own nut butters in his Boulder, CO home.

It wasn’t long before he was packing them in 16-ounce jars to sell at local stores.

As an outdoorsy kind of guy, though, it dawned on him that so many energy bars and goos were just packed with sugar, not to mention pretty lacking in flavor. So, he thought, “Why not package his nut butters in on-the-go individual squeeze packets”?

Genius.

Justin’s nut butters come in eight flavors. They’re all natural, made with dry-roasted nuts, organic cane sugar, palm fruit oil, vanilla and sea salt, as well as organic cocoa and organic cocoa butter in the chocolate varieties.

The nut butters stay fresh until you open the packet. Just knead the packet a little before opening to soften the nut butter and to incorporate the oil that naturally tends to separate out.

Each one-serving packet contains 6 to 7 grams of protein and about 180 calories, depending upon the variety.

Recently, I had a chance to try samples of the Almond Butter, Maple Almond Butter, Chocolate Almond Butter, and Chocolate Hazelnut Butter.

Right off the bat, they’re far less sweet than their commercially produced counterparts. In fact, the Chocolate Hazelnut has 60 percent less sugar than other leading brands. Even the Maple Almond Butter tastes only subtly of maple syrup, so it’s not nearly as sugary as your morning pancake fix would be. The results are nut butters that taste predominantly of roasted nuts.

They are all quite creamy with a slight graininess from the pulverized nuts, which I really like.

The handy packets are great to carry on hikes or bike rides. After all, how many of us have dipped a spoon directly into a jar of peanut butter or Nutella to indulge? With these packets, no utensils are needed whatsoever.

Find the packets for about 79 cents each at Sprouts, Safeway and Target.

Justin’s also aims not only to do a body good, but a community good. The company has raised thousands of dollars, donated thousands of pounds of nut butter and donated volunteer time to food pantries and global disaster relief programs.